Why key workers are leaving London

The exodus of key young professionals from London is reaching unprecedented levels. They are being driven out by a combination of soaring street crime, unreliable public transport and most importantly sky-high house prices.

New research shows that an average property is beyond the reach of anyone who earns £30,000 a year or less in all but one London borough - Barking and Dagenham. Yet a qualified nurse will, from April, receive just over £21,100 including inner London weighting and further allowances and cost of living supplements.

The finding comes in evidence presented by the public sector union Unison to the GLA. Unison warned of a huge recruitment "crisis" affecting health workers, council staff and other public sector employees unless pay is boosted. The country's largest union is threatening industrial action if the weighting allowance is not improved.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union told the Assembly that the civil service in London is also facing a serious skills shortage because staff cannot afford to live here.

It said the 86,000 civil servants working in the capital must be reclassified as "essential workers" and given a substantial-pay supplement. London allowances of £1,000 to £4,225 have "barely increased" since standard London Weighting for civil servants was abolished in 1994. It has resulted in staff turnover rates as high as 20 per cent, causing a major skills shortage and lower standards of service, the PCS says.

Charles Cochrane, PCS head of research, said only an across-the-board pay supplement will prevent further staff shortfalls and an increase in "delays, errors and injustices" suffered by the public.

In 2000, the Office for National Statistics found, 233,000 people left the capital for other parts of the country. Only 163,100 moved to London from other regions. The 70,000 shortfall was the highest since records began.

Worse still, most of the leavers were aged 25 to 44, and the second largest group were children under 15. This suggests London is losing people in the prime of their working lives - with their families.

The situation is now even worse, as since the end of 2000 London house prices have continued to rise, leaving salaries even further behind. The average London house price is now more than £203,000 requiring an annual salary of around £60,000 and a deposit of £10,000 to buy it.

A year ago research by the LSE found that 98 per cent of nurses, teachers, bus drivers and police officers, half of whom earn less than £20,000, believe they are being priced out of London.